The Righteous Gemstones vs Euphoria: How to (and how not to) craft a second season of TV

The Righteous Gemstones and Euphoria are two shows with little in common; both are acclaimed HBO series that began in 2019, and just wrapped up their second season on Sunday night. However, where Gemstones' 2nd season left me wanting more, Euphoria killed any interest I had in future seasons.

So, I will compare why Gemstones was able to pull off a second season so well, and why nothing in Euphoria felt quite right. To put it nicely, Euphoria's second season is structurally completely fucked at its core. It lacks any sense of focus, structure, and feels like each episode was made up as it went along. Why is that though?

The best place to start the first episode. Something that every season of television must do somewhere in the first episode is set expectations and frame the mindset of the viewer as to what the core of the season is, and give clues as to what the season is building towards.

An example of this is the opening of the second season of Breaking Bad, which begins in a black and white flash forward to the end of the season, planting the question of "what happened at Walt's house?" in the mind of the viewer. Other examples would be the discovery of Laura Palmer's body in Twin Peaks, waking up on the island in Lost, and the Tulsa Massacre in Watchmen. All of these events stay in the mind of the viewer, framing their perceptions of where the show is to go.

Although often times shows will have this moment be in the opening scene, it is not always a necessity. The first season of Euphoria opens with a monologue from Rue, detailing the struggles of growing up in the 21st century, introducing its core theme right away, but not the core of the plot until later in the episode.

So, how does the second season of The Righteous Gemstones begin? It begins with a flashback sequence showing Gemstone patriarch Eli as a young man working as a wrestler and enforcer for a gangster named Glendon Marsh, and his son Junior. This gives us new information about Eli, whose backstory had been left ambiguous in the first season, as well as sets up the dynamic between the Marshes, which would be fleshed out later in the season, as well as Eli's ability to graphically snap people's thumbs. Long story short, it grabs the audience, gives them just enough new information to surprise them, provides set-ups for later, and leaves them with enough unanswered questions to keep them guessing.

As the episode progresses, we are introduced to plot points that are integral to the entire season, some subtly, others not so subtly; the Butterfield family has been outed by journalist Thaniel Block (not Nathaniel, just Thaniel) for being sex pests and the Gemstones are worried he might come for them next, the Gemstones are introduced to the Lisson family, the Lisson's are looking for investors for their Christian-themed water park, Junior starts trying to reconnect with Eli, and probably more subtle things that I am probably forgetting, are all established in episode one and end up carrying through the season and being paid off in the finale.

How does the opening of the second season of Euphoria begin? Like Gemstones, it begins with an elongated flashback sequence, but not to a character that we have previously gotten to know, but Fezco's grandmother. A clear homage to Martin Scorsese films such as Goodfellas and Casino, the scene shows Fez's grandmother doing all sorts of mob shit, dealing drugs, shooting people, beating people, all while raising Fez and eventually Ash, while "Jump into the Fire" by Harry Nilson plays. Then, it transitions to present day, and we see Ash kill the drug dealer Mouse with a hammer. The length alone of this scene implies that there is some importance to the information being conveyed in it, but there isn't any.

Already, there's a problem. The way that Euphoria began does not have any clear relation to the rest of the story. Fez's grandmother does not play any part in the rest of the story, let alone her backstory as a drug dealer.

The death of Mouse, like MANY other things in this season, was a huge wasted opportunity to give Fez character development. The episode could have focused on the two of them having to dispose of the dead body, and shown how conflicted he was about the fact that he had affectively raised someone who was capable of coldly murdering someone, and how their line of work had brought such a young person to commit such a violent act without any hesitation. Instead, Ash killing Mouse happens extremely quick, before cutting away and never being mentioned again in this episode, and not again in the show until later in the season. No introspection from either of them on the matter, it's just glossed over until the story needs it to become relevant again.

As the episode progresses, we are re-introduced to our regular cast and eventually they all converge at a New Year's Eve party. Rue tries to hide from Jules that she is not sober, Elliot is introduced, Cassie is picked up by Nate at a gas station, and they end up having sex, and Lexi is shown sparking up a romance with Fezco, before he beats the fuck out of Nate for being Nate.

Now, when I first watched this episode, I thought that Fez beating up Nate at the party was the inciting incident of this story, like how the sex scene between Jules and Cal in S1E1 was the catalyst for the plot of that season, but it wasn't. It gets resolved almost immediately and is never brought up again.

So, in S2E1 of Euphoria, the plot point that seems to be the drama catalyst of the season is Cassie having sex with Nate, since it is the only thing that feels like it stays constant throughout the season. But that's exactly the problem: it stays constant. We never learn any new information about either Nate or Cassie during this, this plot line only serves to reiterate what we already knew about them; Nate is an abusive, manipulative sexist with anger issues and Cassie is desperate for validation to the point where it is unhealthy.

To put it simply, the structure and story of The Righteous Gemstones is meticulously crafted, immediately setting the expectations of the viewer as well as propelling the story of the season forward. Every episode is full of character and plot development, with clever set-ups and satisfying pay-offs that make the show endlessly re-watchable. To put it even simpler, Euphoria has absolutely no structure whatsoever.

Episodes of TV typically have an A-story, and multiple B-stories. For the purposes of this analysis, I'm expanding that concept to the entire season. The A-story of The Righteous Gemstones' second season was Jesse trying to prove that he is competent enough to run the Gemstone church, and Eli trying to hold on to power while he still had it. The B-stories would be Kelvin and the God Squad, Judy and BJ trying to legitimize themselves in the family, Tiffany getting pregnant and Baby Billy having a crisis about it, and so on. The A-story, no matter how many B-stories there are, remains the core of the story at all times.

In Euphoria, we follow Rue's addiction shenanigans, Cassie, Nate and Maddy's love triangle, Cal on an existential crisis about his sexuality, Lexi's play, Lexi's relationship with Fez, the drug lady, Jules and Elliot for a brief period of time, Kat for an even briefer period of time, Nate struggling with his own sexuality after what his dad has put him through, Maddy babysitting and more. I have no idea which of the dozens of things happening in Euphoria season 2 is supposed to be the A-story and what are the B-stories, because none of them are developed properly. Much like the dynamic between Nate and Cassie, every plot line in Euphoria's second season is like this; showing the exact same things happening again and again every episode, not showing the viewer anything new about those things, just showing them again and again. Every single plot line is given so little development that there is no A-story, and there are no B-stories, but just a collection of C-stories, nearly all of which go unresolved. Euphoria season 2 is like watching a four-wheeler stuck in mud, spinning it's wheels and perpetually spraying mud into the air.

However, this could have been solved with a solution that would have added structure to the season, as well as better characters and an emotional core that consists of more than cutting to the same funeral flashback eighty times.

The biggest wasted opportunity of season 2 of Euphoria was the complete mishandling of Lexi, her relationship with Fez, and her ambitions to become a filmmaker and producing her own school play. So, this season should have begun by introducing Lexi as the new narrator, and explain her ambitions to become a filmmaker and her desire to write a play for the school right off the bat. This would shape the audience's expectations as to what is to come, as well as giving a framing device to this season. With narration from her instead of Rue, her character arc would give a story-based reason for the Scorsese-style backstory to Fezco's grandmother, and open up the door for more director-inspired sequences in future episodes. As she writes the play, she starts her relationship with Fez, and they fall in love with each other. Maybe there could be a cute montage of the two of them sharing their favorite movies with the other, and then incorporate the style of those films into the visual style of the episode. Then, drama ensues. Fez's relationship with Lexi is growing as he and Ash have to dispose of the body of Mouse, juxtaposing his work life with his love life. To make matters worse, his emotions boil over and he beats the absolute shit out of Nate at a party in front of Lexi, forcing her to see him in a new light. However, she realizes that even though there's a side to him that she was unaware of, she still loves him, and they stay together as development of the play continues. There could even be some time with the production process of the play itself, surely there could be drama and some comedy mined from the production of a play at Euphoria High School. As is, it is established that she is writing a play and then poof, a play appears fully formed at the end of the season.

This would have added some much needed structure to this newest season of Euphoria. Any hack writer can figure this stuff out. Hell, get me in that writer's room with Sam Levinson. Put me in coach, I'm ready! I'll save your show for you.